2005
Intelligent Energy

the future of the hydrogen economy

Intelligent Energy had invented a new, and very compact, hydrogen fuel cell and was considering how best to deploy its limited PR and advertising budget to let potential customers know about it. Rather than seeking out the best advertising and PR agencies for the task, they asked us.

Our recommendation was to build something which used the new fuel cell - something real, something physical, something that actually worked, which would capture the imagination of both the public and potential customers, a window into the future - the future of the hydrogen economy. In short a rolling advertisement and a working demonstration of IE’s technology.

But what? Eventually we agreed on a motorcycle, because no one had done it before, because we had a lot of experience designing motorcycles and because it had the potential for great PR and, yes… the budget would just stretch to it!

We designed, engineered and built a rough working prototype to prove out the systems, followed by two finished working ENV prototypes, which we tested in road conditions.

ENV turned heads wherever it appeared, winning a string of design, eco and automotive awards and appearing in over 600 television transmissions, on 500 radio shows and countless articles.

ENV (Environmentally Neutral Vehicle) is the future made real. It’s a radical new vehicle which shows the future of the hydrogen economy. Its removable Core, a smart case containing the fuel cell, the hydrogen supply and the control electronics can be removed to power up another appliance - an outboard motor or even a log cabin . . . and its only output is clean, drinkable water!

Intelligent Energy had arrived, and in 2006 the World Economic Forum named it a Technology Pioneer. On the back of this, they formed a partnership with the Suzuki Motor Corporation, developing hydrogen fuel cells for a range of vehicles. And in in 2014, they went public with a successful IPO raising over £50m and valuing the business at over £600m.